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With prohibition, breweries like Anheuser-Busch had to figure out how
to turn their beer-making facilities into factories for non-alcoholic
products. Many did not and closed forever.
 Anheuser-Busch tried
several products in its bid for survival: Like a grape soda called Grape
Bouquet, Anheuser-Busch Ginger Ale, Kaffo (a carbonated coffee) and
Buschtee, a carbonated tea. Best remembered are the "cereal beverages,"
like Bevo and Malt Nutrine. Malt Nutrine was sold as a digestive aid
that "rests the brain and quiets the nerves" and marketed toward nursing
mothers. Bevo, meanwhile, was often injected with pure grain alcohol to
make a product called "needle beer."
But what was the biggest
factor in survival? "Baking products." Anheuser-Busch created Budweiser
Barley Malt Syrup, which it advertised as an essential ingredient in
bread and cookies. Then Superintendent of Brewing Operations, and later
company president August Anheuser "Gussie" Busch, Jr. called the
resulting "malt syrup cookies" too bitter to eat.
How former breweries became the biggest suppliers for illegal bootlegging.
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